No trial for accused sheriff

Prosecutors to drop two charges in rape case, offer program

Prosecutors are preparing to drop charges in the rape case against Claiborne County Sheriff David Ray.

Two charges are to be dropped Tuesday, the day his trial was to begin, and two other charges will be dismissed later if Ray successfully completes a two-year probationary program known as pretrial diversion, according to information obtained by the News Sentinel.

The development follows explosive allegations by Ray's attorneys that the teenage girl who is the alleged victim has a history of using false claims of sexual relations to extort money. The lawyers also have raised questions about the reliability of DNA evidence in the case.

Ray is accused of raping the girl on a deer-hunting trip in Hancock County in 2006, when she was 17, and on an earlier occasion in 2005, when she was 15. He was charged with two counts of sexual assault, one count of statutory rape and one count of statutory rape by an authority figure.

The girl, now 19, "has made false claims of sexual activity with someone else in an attempt to obtain money or something of value from that other person … (and) has in this case the same motive in making these allegations against Mr. Ray," according to a motion filed July 28 by Ray's lawyers, John T. Milburn Rogers and Jerry Laughlin of Greeneville.

A rape victim's sexual history usually is not admissible in court. The motion sought to introduce material that "is not evidence of actual sexual activity" but relates to a possible motive for a false claim. A hearing on the motion, set for today before Circuit Court Judge John F. Dugger Jr., was abruptly canceled Friday.

According to the information obtained by the News Sentinel, the state will drop two of the charges Tuesday when Ray will be in court to accept placement in the pretrial diversion program on the two other charges. Ray will not plead guilty to any offense.

The News Sentinel was unable to determine which two charges are to be dismissed and which will remain on file during the diversion program.

If Ray successfully completes the diversion program, the remaining charges will be dismissed, and he could then apply for them to be expunged.

A civil lawsuit against Ray and Claiborne County, filed by the girl's family in U.S. District Court, is still pending. The civil lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages but does not specify an amount.

"She is the victim in this case, and the only victim," said lawyer Gregory P. Isaacs, who represents the girl in the civil lawsuit. "She is the victim, not only of a terrible crime, but an unthinkable breach of trust. She looks forward to having closure regarding this issue in the very near future."

Semen stains found on the girl's jacket contain Ray's DNA, according to documents filed in the civil case.

Ray's lawyers have hired a DNA expert to challenge the accuracy of the state's forensic evidence.

At a pretrial hearing in the criminal case, Rogers cross-examined the state's DNA witness for nearly four hours.

The girl is from Campbell County. The alleged crimes are said to have occurred in Hancock County on property of which Ray is a part-owner.

The civil lawsuit alleges that in November 2006, the girl went deer hunting with her grandfather and Ray. She rode with Ray, followed by her grandfather in a separate vehicle.

The lawsuit alleges that after the three hunted for a while, Ray drove the girl to a separate hunting spot, brandished his service weapon, removed some of her clothing and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

According to documents filed in the Hancock County criminal case, Ray refused to cooperate with Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Investigator Steve Vinsant during the subsequent criminal investigation.

Vinsant told Ray "that the matter could be cleared up if he would provide a statement, a saliva sample and consent to a search of his truck," according to the document.

Ray's response was: "I ain't giving you nothing," according to the document - a statement that the judge ruled cannot be used at trial to imply that Ray is guilty of anything.

"Sheriff David Ray had the right to invoke his constitutional protections, and the statement was his way of doing so," the judge ruled.

During his career, Ray has been a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper, TBI agent and sessions court judge.

In 1986, while a judge, Ray was acquitted of federal charges that he had taken part in a payoff scheme to allow businesses to have poker machines.